Chapter 4: The Elements Summary and Analysis

In the opening of "The Elements," Antoine is preparing to describe a typhoon but bracing the reader for what he is sure will be a disappointing recounting of the tale. Pointing to Joseph Conrad, he points out that he made no attempt at describing the storm itself, only the effect in had on the people and objects contained in the ship being tossed in the storm. And so, with the point established that he expects to sound like an exaggerating little boy remembering things with more terror than he experienced them with at the time, he begins.

He is preparing to fly through a particularly turbulent area of the Andes where high and low pressure regions converge and bounce around over the mountains, giving pilots a workout in controlling their planes as they fly through it. Knowing...